Cricket

Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd Test Tips - Hosts To Continue Stranglehold On West Indies

By Nikhil Kalro

05 Feb 2025

Nikhil Kalro 05 Feb 2025

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Pakistan won the first Test by 127 runs, led by Sajid Khan's spin dominance.
West Indies struggled against spin; may revise batting lineup for the next test.
Pakistan to win the second test

Pakistan and West Indies (Getty Images)

Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd Test Preview
Pakistan Form
Pakistan Team News
West Indies Form
West Indies Team News

Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd Test Preview

Pakistan made a spirited start to their home series against West Indies with a comfortable 127-run victory in Multan in the first Test. That win was set up by Pakistan’s spinners in tricky conditions led by Sajid Khan, who finished with a nine-wicket haul in the match.

Batting first, Pakistan put up a resolute 230, led by defiant performances from Saud Shakeel (84 off 157 balls) and Mohammad Rizwan (71 off 133 balls). This was after Pakistan were quickly reduced to 46 for 4 on the first day.

In response, West Indies struggled as they were eventually bowled out for a paltry total of 137. A lot more respect was brought to their score by a last wicket stand of 46 from Jomel Warrican and Jayden Seales.

In the second innings, Pakistan were cleaned up for 157 after Warrican produced sparkling figures of 7 for 32. Shan Masood scored a spirited 52 off 70 balls but the next highest score was 29.

Sajid Khan then produced figures of 5 for 50 to help bowl West Indies out for 123 in the second innings. It was the show of the spinners as Abrar Ahmed chipped in with 4 for 27.

Pakistan Form

Pakistan won’t have too many concerns around their form after a clinical performance in the first Test. The one factor they would be challenged by could be the importance of the toss in such conditions but three batters scored fifties in tough batting conditions.

"We will do what we need to take 20 wickets and win the match," Masood said. "We don't even play domestic cricket in these conditions. It's a new thing for us as well.

"We changed it during the England series because we wanted our team to win. We should appreciate the hard work of our bowlers, who got us 20 wickets consistently."

Pakistan Team News

Pakistan will likely continue to use a spin-heavy bowling unit in the second Test, which is also in Multan, which could mean that the hosts field an unchanged XI.

West Indies Form

West Indies, on the other hand, have plenty of headaches that need to be sorted fairly quickly. Their batters were in the headlights of Pakistan’s spinners, which resulted in two innings where they could get no momentum or fluency.

While their own spinners were quite accurate, West Indies need their batters to step up to find ways to score runs in these conditions.

"We expect the same type of pitch in the second Test and we've got to come better," Kraigg Brathwaite said. "It was a difficult pitch to bat on for sure. But it's their decision how they want the pitch.

"We've just got to come good. We gave them 50-60 runs too much in the first innings because the pitch spun from ball one and we could have created enough pressure on the batters to get more wickets.”

West Indies Team News

West Indies played only fast bowler in the first Test in Seales, which will plausibly continue in these conditions. West Indies could also consider some personnel changes to their batting unit for this match.

Verdict

Pakistan showed their mastery in these conditions in the first Test, using spin for almost the entirety of their bowling. That will certainly continue in the second Test. West Indies have some batting gaps that may not be plugged in time.